S.A. Symphony's CEO resigns

By David Hendricks :
November 28, 2012
: Updated: November 29, 2012 8:16am

Jack Fishman, President and CEO of the San Antonio Symphony, holds the head of his double bass that broke off after an airline worker dropped the instrument years ago. He has since had the bass repaired. Friday, Nov. 14, 2008.

Fishman informed the board staff Tuesday morning of his immediate resignation and did not attend the symphony's regularly scheduled board meeting later that afternoon.

“It was a personal decision. It's time to move on to another direction,” Fishman said by phone Wednesday. Asked if he has another position to move to, Fishman said, “I cannot say more.”

Ware said Fishman's decision was sudden. “I did not see it coming. We were good friends before the resignation, and we are good friends now,” Ware said.

He did not think the symphony's shaky financial situation was a factor in Fishman's resignation. “But fundraising is always an issue. We'll always be working at fundraising,” he said.

Ware said the board has appointed David Filner as interim president and CEO and is starting a national search committee to select Fishman's permanent replacement. Filner had been artistic administrator in the orchestra's front office.

The search committee will consist of a yet-unknown number of board members and musicians, with a ratio giving board members a majority, as stipulated in a contract with the musicians' contract, Ware said.

Filner, 39, said he would be a candidate for the permanent position. “Filner is a prime candidate for us,” Ware said. “He's highly qualified. Jack made a great contribution to us. I have the utmost respect for him, but I have to worry about the symphony going forward.”

The Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation plans to open the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in September 2014, and the symphony is expected to be its largest local resident.

Filner said he will step into the fundraising roles that Fishman had along with fundraising efforts led by the board members. The symphony has reported losses the past two seasons before it signed a three-year contract with the orchestra players in September.

“We are developing the strategy,” Filner said. Fishman came to the San Antonio Symphony in the summer of 2008 after serving as executive director of the Long Beach Symphony in California.

Filner came to the San Antonio Symphony in 2005 as director of education and community engagement before moving to general manager in 2007. In 2011, he became a fellow with the New York-based League of American Orchestras. As a league fellow, Filner worked with the Aspen Music Festival and School and the San Francisco Symphony.

He also worked as a consultant with San Antonio Symphony Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing on the 2012-13 concert program and other artistic matters. He rejoined the San Antonio Symphony front office last month.

Lang-Lessing was not available for comment. The musicians and the board members were informed of Fishman's resignation by email Tuesday after Fishman's announcement to the staff.

Bugg said he did not think Fishman's resignation is a setback for the symphony as it begins its transition from its current home at the Majestic Theatre to the Tobin Center in 2014.

“Finding Lang-Lessing was a big part of Fishman's legacy,” Bugg said. “Lang-Lessing has reinvigorated the symphony community, and that will help the symphony in its transition.”